[[Image:Uludag.jpg|thumb|300px|Teleskis and skiing tracks of Uludağ with the hotels at the back]]

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[[Image:Uludag summit.jpg|thumb|300px|The summit of Uludağ as seen from a tranquil meadow afar]]

'''Uludağ''' (pronounced ''oo loo daa'') is a national park and wintersports resort in [[Southern Marmara]] of [[Turkey]].

'''Uludağ''' (pronounced ''oo loo daa'') is a national park and wintersports resort in [[Southern Marmara]] of [[Turkey]].

==Understand==

==Understand==

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With its 2,543 mt/8,343 ft summit, Uludağ is the highest mountain of [[Marmara (region)|northwestern Turkey]]. There are some reports and photos that claims its summit is visible from [[Istanbul]] about 150 km north as the crow flies on clear days, though this is usually not the case.

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With its 2,543 mt/8,343 ft summit, Uludağ is the highest mountain of [[Marmara (region)|northwestern Turkey]]. There are some reports and photos that claims its summit is visible from [[Istanbul]] about 150 km north as the crow flies on clear days, though this is usually not the case due to humidity.

Uludağ has two sides to it: On one side, it's an untouched natural beauty of forests, hills, and rocks overlooked by eagles and on the other it's a heavily-used resort of wintersports. One might argue there is a third side as well, the relatively small-sized but well-used daily-use areas that are filled with kebab-odour that disseminate from grills of open-air restaurants.

Uludağ has two sides to it: On one side, it's an untouched natural beauty of forests, hills, and rocks overlooked by eagles and on the other it's a heavily-used resort of wintersports. One might argue there is a third side as well, the relatively small-sized but well-used daily-use areas that are filled with kebab-odour that disseminate from grills of open-air restaurants.

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Uludağ was one of the twenty-odd mountains around the eastern half of Mediterranean basin that used to be called '''Olympos''' in ancient times&mdash;more precisely '''Mysian Olympos''' in this case, Mysia being the ancient name of the region what is about eastern two-thirds of [[Southern Marmara]] today.

Uludağ was one of the twenty-odd mountains around the eastern half of Mediterranean basin that used to be called '''Olympos''' in ancient times&mdash;more precisely '''Mysian Olympos''' in this case, Mysia being the ancient name of the region what is about eastern two-thirds of [[Southern Marmara]] today.

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In medieval times, Uludağ served as a hermitage to Christian monks, a situation which is the reason why its name was ''Keşiş Dağı'' ("Mountain of the Monks") in Ottoman Turkish. It was renamed Uludağ, which translates "Great Mountain" ("great" being more in the sense of "grand"), in 1935, about a decade after the Turkish Republic was founded.

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In medieval times, Uludağ served as a hermitage to Christian monks, which explains why it was named ''Keşiş Dağı'' ("Mountain of the Monks") in Ottoman Turkish. It was also this time when, in the absence of refrigators, the ice harvested from the mountain made its way to the imperial kitchen in Istanbul's [[Istanbul/Sultanahmet-Old City|Topkapı Palace]]. The mountain was later renamed Uludağ, which translates "Great Mountain" ("great" being more in the sense of "grand"), in 1935, about a decade after the Turkish Republic was founded.

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Uludağ was the first (and, still the most popular) wintersports resort in Turkey, with the first guesthouses aimed at skiing enthusiasts opening in 1940s. It was declared a national park in 1961, but that didn't fully stop tourism developments.

===Landscape===

===Landscape===

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===Climate===

===Climate===

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As you may be expecting, Uludağ is far chillier than nearby [[Bursa]] thanks to its elevation. The wintersports season, especially skiing, is between October and April, with a guaranteed stable snowcover and constant below freezing temperatures between December and March. A summer day that is sweltering hot in Bursa is likely to be cool enough that makes it ''really'' uncomfortable without at least a cardigan outdoors in Uludağ during the day and definately at night.

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As you may be expecting, Uludağ is far chillier than nearby [[Bursa]] thanks to its elevation. The wintersports season, especially skiing, is between October and April, with a guaranteed stable snowcover and constant below freezing temperatures between December and March. A summer day that is sweltering hot in Bursa is likely to be cool enough that makes it ''really'' uncomfortable without at least a cardigan outdoors in Uludağ during the day and definitely at night.

==Get in==

==Get in==

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[[Image:Uludag road.jpg|thumb|250px|Autumn colours along the cobbled road to Uludağ]]

[[Image:Uludagcablecar.jpg|thumb|Cable car to Uludağ]]

[[Image:Uludagcablecar.jpg|thumb|Cable car to Uludağ]]

The narrow (wide enough for vehicles to pass side by side though) and tarmac road from [[Bursa]] (with signs pointing it all around the city) winds on the side of the mountain for 22 km until it arrives at the '''national park gate''' at Karabelen. After the gate, it turns into&mdash;or rather isn't upgraded from since it was opened&mdash;a cobbled road, presumably to force drivers to lower their speed, so that driving under icy conditions in winter on this winding road is safe. The cobbled road lasts for 8 km until '''Sarıalan''', or 12 km until '''Oteller''' (area where all hotels are clustered).

The narrow (wide enough for vehicles to pass side by side though) and tarmac road from [[Bursa]] (with signs pointing it all around the city) winds on the side of the mountain for 22 km until it arrives at the '''national park gate''' at Karabelen. After the gate, it turns into&mdash;or rather isn't upgraded from since it was opened&mdash;a cobbled road, presumably to force drivers to lower their speed, so that driving under icy conditions in winter on this winding road is safe. The cobbled road lasts for 8 km until '''Sarıalan''', or 12 km until '''Oteller''' (area where all hotels are clustered).

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In winter, vehicles without '''tire chains''' may not be allowed to go further than park gate if park authorities decide so (which usually do so in heavily-snowing days). Fortunately, you'll see a lot of stalls run by local people on sides of the road which sell chains&mdash;though they'll for sure try to rip you off if it's one of those no-cars-without-chains days (like trying to sell the chain for 100 TL, whereas it would cost about 15 TL elsewhere). Whether a snowy day or not, [[winter driving]] rules apply.

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In winter, vehicles without '''tire chains''' may not be allowed to go further than park gate if park authorities decide so (which usually do so in heavily-snowing days). Fortunately, you'll see a lot of stalls run by local people on sides of the road which sell chains&mdash;though they'll for sure try to rip you off if it's one of those no-cars-without-chains days (like trying to sell the chain for up to 100 TL, whereas it would cost about 15 TL elsewhere). Whether a snowy day or not, [[winter driving]] rules apply.

30-person '''cable cars''' (''teleferik'') from Bursa's upper neighbourhood of '''Teferrüç''' on the foothills of the mountain (minibuses with signs ''Teferrüç &ndash; Teleferik'' get there from central Bursa) take a much more direct route than the road. It takes around 20-25 minutes to get to the Sarıalan station located at 1,634 mt above the sea level. At about mid-way up to Sarıalan, there is a change station at Kadıyayla. Because of space constraints, no skiing/snowboarding equipment is allowed in the cable car, but fortunately you can rent them up on the mountain. As of 2010, ''teleferik'' ride from Teferrüç to Sarıalan costs 10 TL pp return on Wednesdays and Fridays, 15 TL pp return on other days [http://www.bursa.bel.tr/icerik.asp?kat=213&id=215]. Children aged 7-12 are entitled for a 50% concession. Departures start 8:30AM with 30-minute intervals until 10AM. Then, there is a departure every 40 minutes during the rest of the day with the last departure from Teferrüç to Sarıalan at 8PM and the last returning departure to the city at 8:20PM [http://www.bursa.bel.tr/icerik.asp?kat=213&id=216]. Cable car service may be cancelled due to bad weather, especially in wintertime.

30-person '''cable cars''' (''teleferik'') from Bursa's upper neighbourhood of '''Teferrüç''' on the foothills of the mountain (minibuses with signs ''Teferrüç &ndash; Teleferik'' get there from central Bursa) take a much more direct route than the road. It takes around 20-25 minutes to get to the Sarıalan station located at 1,634 mt above the sea level. At about mid-way up to Sarıalan, there is a change station at Kadıyayla. Because of space constraints, no skiing/snowboarding equipment is allowed in the cable car, but fortunately you can rent them up on the mountain. As of 2010, ''teleferik'' ride from Teferrüç to Sarıalan costs 10 TL pp return on Wednesdays and Fridays, 15 TL pp return on other days [http://www.bursa.bel.tr/icerik.asp?kat=213&id=215]. Children aged 7-12 are entitled for a 50% concession. Departures start 8:30AM with 30-minute intervals until 10AM. Then, there is a departure every 40 minutes during the rest of the day with the last departure from Teferrüç to Sarıalan at 8PM and the last returning departure to the city at 8:20PM [http://www.bursa.bel.tr/icerik.asp?kat=213&id=216]. Cable car service may be cancelled due to bad weather, especially in wintertime.

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If that's the case, then you can take 15-person ''' ''dolmuş''es''' from Bursa, which have no fixed hours, and depart when full. Their departure stop is in Tophane, next to the Saltanatkapı gate of old city walls. It takes around 50 minutes to get to Oteller, their last stop in Uludağ, by these ''dolmuş''es and a one-way trip costs 9 TL pp.

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If that's the case, then you can take 15-person ''' ''dolmuş''es''' from Bursa, which have no fixed hours, and depart when full. Their departure stop is in Tophane, next to the Saltanatkapı gate of old city walls. It takes around 50 minutes to get to Oteller, their last stop in Uludağ, by these ''dolmuş''es and a one-way trip costs 9 TL pp. There are also ''dolmuş taksi''s with a capacity of four passengers available, which naturally have less waiting times until they are full, and which cost 15 TL pp one-way.

==Fees/Permits==

==Fees/Permits==

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Minibuses (''dolmuş'') are available from Sarıalan cable car station to '''Oteller''' area, about 10 km away and where all of the hotels are located.

Minibuses (''dolmuş'') are available from Sarıalan cable car station to '''Oteller''' area, about 10 km away and where all of the hotels are located.

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2-person '''gondola lifts''' (''telesiyej'') start from their seperate station next to the cable car station in Sarıalan and head to '''Çobankaya''' plateau 3 km away and about 100 mt higher than Sarıalan. A return ticket on gondola lift line costs 10 TL pp, with a 50% reduction for children aged 7-12.

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2-person '''gondola lifts''' (''telesiyej'') start from their separate station next to the cable car station in Sarıalan and head to '''Çobankaya''' plateau 3 km away and about 100 mt higher than Sarıalan. A return ticket on gondola lift line costs 10 TL pp, with a 50% reduction for children aged 7-12.

==See==

==See==

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* At '''Bakacak''' Plateau near Çobankaya&mdash;where gondola lifts from Sarıalan terminate&mdash;you can have a '''large overlooking view of the region''' around the mountain, including the city of [[Bursa]] just north of Uludağ, and Lake Apollonia (''Apolyont Gölü'' or ''Ulubat Gölü'' in Turkish), about 50 km to west.

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* At '''Bakacak''' Plateau a kilometre north of Çobankaya&mdash;where gondola lifts from Sarıalan terminate; accessible by a paved road from there as well as from Oteller area&mdash;you can have a '''large overlooking view of the region''' around the mountain, including the city of [[Bursa]] just north of Uludağ, and Lake Apollonia (''Apolyont Gölü'' or ''Ulubat Gölü'' in Turkish), about 50 km to west. On your way there, you may also check out '''Çobankaya'''—literally "shepherd's rock"—itself, a huge granite boulder, situated on the side of the road.

==Do==

==Do==

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===Skiing===

===Skiing===

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Uludağ is the oldest wintersports resort of the country with the first hotel opened in 1940s. Uludağ offers a number of tracks between fir trees, each with a different level of hardness. Lots of '''teleski'''s are available, though unlike many other wintersports resorts around the world, there is not a universal teleski pass system in Uludağ, so you may have to pay each time you use a teleski unless you are using your hotel's own.

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[[Image:Uludag.jpg|thumb|Teleskis and skiing tracks of Uludağ with the hotels at the back]]

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Uludağ is the oldest wintersports resort of the country with the first hotel opened in 1940s. Uludağ offers a number of tracks between fir trees, each with a different level of hardness. Lots of '''teleski'''s are available, though unlike many other wintersports resorts around the world, there is not a universal teleski pass system in Uludağ, so you may have to pay each time you use a teleski unless you are using your hotel's own, although there are daily passes valid for each individual teleskis, which cost 80 TL a day.

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Skiing equipment can be rented on the mountain for 15-25 TL a day.

===Hiking===

===Hiking===

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Although none of them waymarked, there is a number of hiking trails on the mountain, with the most popular ones being the trail from Sarıalan to Çobankaya and the trail to the glacial lakes and the summit, which you can start from the abandoned wolfram mine (location simply known as '''Volfram''') east of Oteller area. Volfram to lakes and summit hike is reported to take place along a non-waymarked but obvious trail which forks in about an hour and a half after you started walking: trail to right leads to the summit while the one to left leads to the lakes. Hiking Volfram to either location is said to take around 3 hours&mdash;though those wishing to see both the summit and the lakes close-up better take their camping gear with them since, although near each other, hiking to both locations and then back at the same day is said to be demanding.

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Although none of them waymarked, there is a number of hiking trails on the mountain, with the most popular ones being the trail through the forest from Sarıalan to Çobankaya and the trail above the treeline to the glacial lakes and the summit, which you can start from the abandoned wolfram mine (location simply known as '''Volfram''') east of Oteller area (there are two ways to get to Volfram from Oteller: a footpath starting from 1. Gelişim Bölgesi, or a car-accessible road starting from 2. Gelişim Bölgesi). Volfram to lakes and summit hike is reported to take place along a non-waymarked but obvious trail which forks in about an hour and a half after you started walking: trail to right leads to the summit—the roof of [[Marmara (region)|northwestern Turkey]] where you can catch a glimpse of part of the distinctive crocodile-like shape of the Sea of Marmara and a distant silhouette of [[Istanbul]] beyond on clear days—while the one to left leads to the lakes—four of them roughly in a row, most of which are partly ice-covered even in the height of summer unless in an exceptional year. Hiking Volfram to either location is said to take around 3 hours&mdash;though those wishing to see both the summit and the lakes close-up better take their camping gear with them since, although near each other, hiking to both locations and then back at the same day is said to be demanding.

==Buy==

==Buy==

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There are a number of kiosks/grocery stores on the mountain, although like almost anything else offered by commercial establishments in Uludağ, they provide snacks and drinks for about three times of what you'd pay elsewhere.

==Eat==

==Eat==

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==Drink==

==Drink==

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The bars of the hotels are open to anyone (for a fee, unless you stay there, of course).

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{{infobox|Water, anyone?|''Uludağ'' is a word you will quite frequently notice on water bottle labels in Turkey, while travelling in [[Marmara (region)|northwestern parts]] in particular, as the springs and creeks in the foothills of the mountain provide much of the country's bottled water, especially those produced by bigger brands.}}

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The cafés and bars of the hotels are open to anyone (for a fee, unless you stay there, of course). Expect to pay dearly, though&mdash;a cup of coffee can easily cost 15 TL in winter.

==Sleep==

==Sleep==

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===Lodging===

===Lodging===

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All hotels in Uludağ are located in '''Oteller''' (literally "hotels") area, which is divided into '''1. Gelişim Bölgesi''', the older development area and '''2. Gelişim Bölgesi''', the newer development area with a few km inbetween. Many hotels in Uludağ, though, are aimed at skiers and thus are closed during summer.

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All hotels in Uludağ are located in '''Oteller''' (literally "hotels") area, which is divided into '''1. Gelişim Bölgesi''', the older development area and '''2. Gelişim Bölgesi''', the newer development area with a few km inbetween. 1. Gelişim Bölgesi is reported to be livelier than 2. Gelişim Bölgesi. Many hotels in Uludağ, though, are aimed at skiers and thus are closed during summer.

Contents

Understand

With its 2,543 mt/8,343 ft summit, Uludağ is the highest mountain of northwestern Turkey. There are some reports and photos that claims its summit is visible from Istanbul about 150 km north as the crow flies on clear days, though this is usually not the case due to humidity.

Uludağ has two sides to it: On one side, it's an untouched natural beauty of forests, hills, and rocks overlooked by eagles and on the other it's a heavily-used resort of wintersports. One might argue there is a third side as well, the relatively small-sized but well-used daily-use areas that are filled with kebab-odour that disseminate from grills of open-air restaurants.

History

Uludağ was one of the twenty-odd mountains around the eastern half of Mediterranean basin that used to be called Olympos in ancient times—more precisely Mysian Olympos in this case, Mysia being the ancient name of the region what is about eastern two-thirds of Southern Marmara today.

In medieval times, Uludağ served as a hermitage to Christian monks, which explains why it was named Keşiş Dağı ("Mountain of the Monks") in Ottoman Turkish. It was also this time when, in the absence of refrigators, the ice harvested from the mountain made its way to the imperial kitchen in Istanbul's Topkapı Palace. The mountain was later renamed Uludağ, which translates "Great Mountain" ("great" being more in the sense of "grand"), in 1935, about a decade after the Turkish Republic was founded.

Uludağ was the first (and, still the most popular) wintersports resort in Turkey, with the first guesthouses aimed at skiing enthusiasts opening in 1940s. It was declared a national park in 1961, but that didn't fully stop tourism developments.

Landscape

Northern side of the mountain overlooking the city of Bursa (though you should be darn lucky to have a glimpse of the city from most locations on the mountain) is dotted with a number of flat plateaus around 1,600 mt above the sea level: Sarıalan (the main daily-use area and where cable cars from Bursa terminate), Kadıyayla (where the cable car pauses before heading forward to Sarıalan), Karabelen (when approaching by road, the national park gate is situated here), and Kirazlıyayla (the first plateau after the park gate) among others.

The southern slopes of the mountain is far steeper and is less accessible.

Flora and fauna

Uludağ is one of the places where school geography textbooks come true: the mountain has belts of different types of vegetation varying with the elevation. The lowest slopes bordering Bursa, up to 350 mt above the sea level is covered with Mediterranean shrubs (maquis), such as laurel trees. Between 350 through 700 mt, it's the warm temperate decidious forests dominated by chestnut trees (this zone is where most of those delicious chestnut desserts unique to Bursa originates from). It's the time for cool temperate decidious woods between 700 to 1,500 mt, dominated by beech trees. 1,500 to 2,100 mt is the highest belt that still allow trees to grow, dominated by indemic firs of Uludağ. Tree-less and fragile alpine meadows cover the areas of mountain above 2,100 mt.

Bears, wolves, deers, and eagles among others are the dwellers of Uludağ.

Climate

As you may be expecting, Uludağ is far chillier than nearby Bursa thanks to its elevation. The wintersports season, especially skiing, is between October and April, with a guaranteed stable snowcover and constant below freezing temperatures between December and March. A summer day that is sweltering hot in Bursa is likely to be cool enough that makes it really uncomfortable without at least a cardigan outdoors in Uludağ during the day and definitely at night.

Get in

Autumn colours along the cobbled road to Uludağ

Cable car to Uludağ

The narrow (wide enough for vehicles to pass side by side though) and tarmac road from Bursa (with signs pointing it all around the city) winds on the side of the mountain for 22 km until it arrives at the national park gate at Karabelen. After the gate, it turns into—or rather isn't upgraded from since it was opened—a cobbled road, presumably to force drivers to lower their speed, so that driving under icy conditions in winter on this winding road is safe. The cobbled road lasts for 8 km until Sarıalan, or 12 km until Oteller (area where all hotels are clustered).

In winter, vehicles without tire chains may not be allowed to go further than park gate if park authorities decide so (which usually do so in heavily-snowing days). Fortunately, you'll see a lot of stalls run by local people on sides of the road which sell chains—though they'll for sure try to rip you off if it's one of those no-cars-without-chains days (like trying to sell the chain for up to 100 TL, whereas it would cost about 15 TL elsewhere). Whether a snowy day or not, winter driving rules apply.

30-person cable cars (teleferik) from Bursa's upper neighbourhood of Teferrüç on the foothills of the mountain (minibuses with signs Teferrüç – Teleferik get there from central Bursa) take a much more direct route than the road. It takes around 20-25 minutes to get to the Sarıalan station located at 1,634 mt above the sea level. At about mid-way up to Sarıalan, there is a change station at Kadıyayla. Because of space constraints, no skiing/snowboarding equipment is allowed in the cable car, but fortunately you can rent them up on the mountain. As of 2010, teleferik ride from Teferrüç to Sarıalan costs 10 TL pp return on Wednesdays and Fridays, 15 TL pp return on other days [1]. Children aged 7-12 are entitled for a 50% concession. Departures start 8:30AM with 30-minute intervals until 10AM. Then, there is a departure every 40 minutes during the rest of the day with the last departure from Teferrüç to Sarıalan at 8PM and the last returning departure to the city at 8:20PM [2]. Cable car service may be cancelled due to bad weather, especially in wintertime.

If that's the case, then you can take 15-person dolmuşes from Bursa, which have no fixed hours, and depart when full. Their departure stop is in Tophane, next to the Saltanatkapı gate of old city walls. It takes around 50 minutes to get to Oteller, their last stop in Uludağ, by these dolmuşes and a one-way trip costs 9 TL pp. There are also dolmuş taksis with a capacity of four passengers available, which naturally have less waiting times until they are full, and which cost 15 TL pp one-way.

Fees/Permits

A flat rate—which doesn't depend on the number of passengers—for vehicles is charged at the national park gate. Bigger the vehicle, more expensive the fee (though not prohibitively so).

Get around

Minibuses (dolmuş) are available from Sarıalan cable car station to Oteller area, about 10 km away and where all of the hotels are located.

2-person gondola lifts (telesiyej) start from their separate station next to the cable car station in Sarıalan and head to Çobankaya plateau 3 km away and about 100 mt higher than Sarıalan. A return ticket on gondola lift line costs 10 TL pp, with a 50% reduction for children aged 7-12.

See

At Bakacak Plateau a kilometre north of Çobankaya—where gondola lifts from Sarıalan terminate; accessible by a paved road from there as well as from Oteller area—you can have a large overlooking view of the region around the mountain, including the city of Bursa just north of Uludağ, and Lake Apollonia (Apolyont Gölü or Ulubat Gölü in Turkish), about 50 km to west. On your way there, you may also check out Çobankaya—literally "shepherd's rock"—itself, a huge granite boulder, situated on the side of the road.

Do

The "two sides" of Uludağ is also evident in the activities it offers: in wintertime it's skiing down the white slopes, in summertime it's taking a walk amidst the woods.

Skiing

Teleskis and skiing tracks of Uludağ with the hotels at the back

Uludağ is the oldest wintersports resort of the country with the first hotel opened in 1940s. Uludağ offers a number of tracks between fir trees, each with a different level of hardness. Lots of teleskis are available, though unlike many other wintersports resorts around the world, there is not a universal teleski pass system in Uludağ, so you may have to pay each time you use a teleski unless you are using your hotel's own, although there are daily passes valid for each individual teleskis, which cost 80 TL a day.

Skiing equipment can be rented on the mountain for 15-25 TL a day.

Hiking

Although none of them waymarked, there is a number of hiking trails on the mountain, with the most popular ones being the trail through the forest from Sarıalan to Çobankaya and the trail above the treeline to the glacial lakes and the summit, which you can start from the abandoned wolfram mine (location simply known as Volfram) east of Oteller area (there are two ways to get to Volfram from Oteller: a footpath starting from 1. Gelişim Bölgesi, or a car-accessible road starting from 2. Gelişim Bölgesi). Volfram to lakes and summit hike is reported to take place along a non-waymarked but obvious trail which forks in about an hour and a half after you started walking: trail to right leads to the summit—the roof of northwestern Turkey where you can catch a glimpse of part of the distinctive crocodile-like shape of the Sea of Marmara and a distant silhouette of Istanbul beyond on clear days—while the one to left leads to the lakes—four of them roughly in a row, most of which are partly ice-covered even in the height of summer unless in an exceptional year. Hiking Volfram to either location is said to take around 3 hours—though those wishing to see both the summit and the lakes close-up better take their camping gear with them since, although near each other, hiking to both locations and then back at the same day is said to be demanding.

Buy

There are a number of kiosks/grocery stores on the mountain, although like almost anything else offered by commercial establishments in Uludağ, they provide snacks and drinks for about three times of what you'd pay elsewhere.

Eat

Around Sarıalan is a number of open-air Kendin Pişir Kendin Ye ("Cook it yourself!") restaurants mostly favoured by Middle Eastern (especially Saudi) families where you buy your meat by kilo and rent a grill with some charcoal and cook your kebab yourself. Most, if not all, of these restaurants are open round the year.

Otherwise, all hotels in Uludağ are full-board and you'll have your meals in your hotel.

Drink

Water, anyone?Uludağ is a word you will quite frequently notice on water bottle labels in Turkey, while travelling in northwestern parts in particular, as the springs and creeks in the foothills of the mountain provide much of the country's bottled water, especially those produced by bigger brands.

The cafés and bars of the hotels are open to anyone (for a fee, unless you stay there, of course). Expect to pay dearly, though—a cup of coffee can easily cost 15 TL in winter.

Sleep

Although a national park, being a wintersports resort means that those prefering a luxurious bed rather than a bumpy mat under the tentfloor won't be dissappointed in Uludağ.

Lodging

All hotels in Uludağ are located in Oteller (literally "hotels") area, which is divided into 1. Gelişim Bölgesi, the older development area and 2. Gelişim Bölgesi, the newer development area with a few km inbetween. 1. Gelişim Bölgesi is reported to be livelier than 2. Gelişim Bölgesi. Many hotels in Uludağ, though, are aimed at skiers and thus are closed during summer.

Camping

Organized campgrounds run by Turkish Ministry of Forestry can be found in Sarıalan and in Çobankaya.

Backcountry

It's possible to wild camp pretty much anywhere—apart from the obvious skiing tracks, of course—in the mountain. However, highest areas are covered with alpine meadows, some of the most fragile ecosystems in the world, so it's important to follow leave-no-trace guidelines.

Stay safe

A heavy fog can quickly set on any day in Uludağ, even on a perfectly sunny one. With the loss of sight of natural distinguishers, it becomes fairly hard to follow the trails, especially on the higher meadows of the mountain, so stay ahead of weather forecasts if you're planning to hike. If you are trapped in fog, the best would be to wait until it goes away—it can rise as quick as it forms.